Craven House Catalyst

My biggest portfolio holding is Craven House Capital (AIM:CRV), which today has a 30% weighting. It is a tiny nano-cap flying beneath the radar of most investors that I have held since 0.28p up to the current 0.47p. I still think this could double from here though and it’s been a while since I went over the stock so here is an up to date look.

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Pental Limited (ASX:PTL)

Pental is an Australian consumer goods company that has grown revenues by 16% per annum since 2006 yet is trading at a TTM P/E ratio of just 8. It previously had a large speciality chemicals business which was disposed of in 2013, which means its financial history isn’t what it first seems by looking at the company statements alone. My interest was widened when I noted that a member of the board personally holds almost 20% of the company.

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Ridley & how not to hedge

Ridley has been a star performer in my portfolio this year. Only 7 months after I purchased it for $12.45 I have sold it for $24.32. So that’s almost a 100% return right? Well not quite, the currency moved against me by 13% which knocks that 100 down to more like 70%. Ah but that’s where my hedge comes in, it should make up the shortfall – that’s what I thought. Well imagine my surprise when it contributed just 5% to my return. I made an error which has cost me dearly – don’t make the same mistake.

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Free markets vs government

The recent news of Pfizer’s (NYSE:PFE) prospective takeover of AstraZeneca (LSE:AZN) has had me contemplating what governments should do (if anything) about this. There have been wide calls in the media and by the public in the UK for the government to block any takeover as it would put British jobs at risk and it’s not in our national interest to sell our best assets to foreigners.

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Goldplat selloff

I wrote up Goldplat (AIM:GDP) only a few weeks ago just after I had purchased shares. The position is down almost 30% – hitting all time lows, and now represents an even better buying opportunity in my opinion. Here’s my take on why the share price has fallen so much and if the market knows something we don’t.

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